Vibhor Mohan
Chandigarh: The Punjab govt is likely to move the Supreme Court on Tuesday against the Punjab and Haryana high court order directing it to release pending dearness allowance (DA) arrears to employees, an official said.The proposed special leave petition comes days after around 7.5 lakh workers participated in the Aug 27 statewide ‘Maha Hartal’, including 3 lakh govt employees, contractual workers, retirees and pensioners.The high court, in its Aug 3 order, had directed the state govt to release Rs 14,191 crore in DA arrears within 15 days. The deadline has since expired, with the state facing pressure from more than 150 employee unions.The govt is examining the legal options and has been consulting legal experts on challenging the order, the official said. Finance minister Harpal Singh Cheema had on Aug 4 said the govt was considering an appeal before the Supreme Court.The state govt has argued that Punjab provides among the highest pay scales in the country and that it can either implement the higher pay scales recommended by the state Pay Commission or pay DA at the rate followed by the Central govt.